The New Team Member
by Sanura Bey
Summary: After the two Davids job, with everyone keeping an eye out for them, they needed a new face. They had Maggie but they needed one more, a jack. But this jack brings more to the game than what they expected.


We all stood in the Blackpoole gallery as Mr. Blackpoole had a gun on Nathan.

"Where are they?" Mr. Blackpoole asked him.

"Clear the room. Clear the room!" Sterling told us.

"I'm not leaving." I told him as everyone cleared out.

"Are you here to kill me, Ian?" Nathan asked him.

* * *

**Eliot's POV**

I was doing a round as a security guard, casing the area, at the museum where the two Davids were being held. I greeted some other guards, and made notes on the notepad I'd brought with me and continued walking. I turned and looked at the other side of the floor to see Hardison.

"What are you doing?" I whispered to him. He shrugged and I got angry with him, again. "Damn it Hardison!"

"This is my spot. You go!" Hardison said softly.

"Shh!" I said seeing guards coming his way. "Behind you."

"What? What?!" Hardison asked giving me attitude.

"Behind you!" I said again.

"What?" he asked me giving even more attitude.

"Hey!" the guard behind him said and I groaned. "Stay where you are!"

"Hey." I looked down to the second floor to see Parker and I looked at her confused before turning back to Hardison to see him backing away from the security guards.

"I left my ID.." Hardison lied trying to get away from them.

"Just wait. Hey!" the guard called after him.

"Could we get some security over to the Blackpoole gallery?" I heard over the radio and walked to meet Hardison in the center of the hallway. "He's trying to get an exit to the north stairwell." Hardison dropped his helmet as he rounded a corner, followed by two guards.

"Help me." Hardison

"I got you." I told him.

"Help me, help me!" Hardison said passing me. I grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back, then gestured to the other guards.

"I got it." I told them picking him up. I snapped cuffs on Hardison, then took his hat from another guard and put it on his head. "All right, check one floor up. I think I saw another guy dressed just like this one." I told them.

"Got it." one of the guards said.

"Let's go." the other said and they left.

"Move!" I said pushing Hardison into the elevator.

"I'm gonna kick your butt." Hardison told me.

"Stand over there!" I said pushing him to the other side of the elevator as I walked in.

"I'm gonna kick your butt." Hardison repeated. In the elevator I un-cuffed Hardison and we ran out the door to see Sophie and Parker.

"What?" Sophie asked.

"Let's go." I said and we ran as a car pulled up with Nate inside.

"Need a ride?" he asked us and we all scrambled into the car and Nate drove away.

* * *

We were all walking up a long stairway to a magnificent house after Nate had picked us up.

"Hardison, what is this?" Nate asked him.

"Yeah, well, since Sterling blew our covers, I had to find a new safe house. Lay low." Hardison told us.

"This is your idea of laying low?" Sophie asked him as we walked into the foyer.

"Hey, don't break nothing." Hardison told us as we looked around the empty mansion.

"There's nothing to break." I told him.

"Who ripped out the toilets?" Parker asked walking out of a bathroom.

"This was an IRS Foreclosure. I got it cheap." Hardison told us.

"IRS doesn't take toilets." Nate told us.

"They do when they're solid gold. This used to be MC Hammer's place. I guess you can touch this, with a swat team and a federal warrant." Hardison said and I saw him and Parker give Sophie a long look before the walked away.

"What?" she asked them and I followed them.

"How'd you know we'd be there?" Hardison asked Nate.

"Last week before the exhibit opens, security almost in place, but not fully staffed. Best time to case the joint. Plus, I did chase all of you at one point or another." he told us.

"Is she in on this?" I asked Nate pointing to Sophie.

""She" can hear you, okay?" Sophie told him.

"Wait a minute. There is no "this," Eliot." Hardison told me.

"Sophie did come back for me." Parker told us.

"Wouldn't have had to if she wouldn't have lied to you." I told her.

"No calls for three months. I don't need you people." Hardison told us.

"What do you mean, you don't need us?" Parker asked him.

"I'm sorry, I seem to remember a certain job with horses where I backed your play, actually." Sophie told me.

"I don't care! You don't con your crew!" I yelled at her. The four of us all began arguing until Nate whistled to get our attention, and it worked.

"Glen-Reeder security system here." Nate said looking at some plans.

"And that's not the worst of it." Parker said as we all walked to the table with the plans.

"Hmm?" Nate asked her.

"The Davids are under bulletproof glass on a motion-Detector pad." Parker told us.

"Really?" Nate asked her.

"Mm-Hmm." Parker confirmed.

"Environmentally sealed…" Sophie said and Nate backed off.

"Really." Nate said.

"…kept at a constant temperature and humidity in the case. I saw them working on the airflow." Sophie told us.

"No, no, no, you can get past the motion detectors, okay? I have a link to their security system and the video feed." Hardison said.

"Guard rotation's too heavy for a day grab, and at night they got two standing guards." I told them.

"Why'd you come back? We agreed to scatter for six months. All of you–all of you—made an amateur move being there." Nate asked us and we all backed away from each other.

"It's too hard to leave a job undone. It's like an itch." Parker told him.

"I put a lot of work into us, into that office. It was like my second home. I blew up my second home." Hardison told him.

"As annoying as you people are, I quit this crew when I quit this crew. Nobody makes me leave." I said.

"I just, I really wanted to hurt Sterling." Sophie said.

"Well, he's taking over security for the gallery. So if we work together, if we work together, we can kill two birds with one stone. Break Blackpoole and humiliate Sterling." Nate told us.

"No, no. Sterling, he knows our game, man, okay? It's going to be twice as hard to steal those statues." Sophie told us.

"Oh, no, no. It'll be four times as hard. They know we're coming." Nate told us.

"And how do they know that?" Parker asked him.

"I went to their office and told them." Nate said smiling at us.

"Oh, Nate. We all want to hurt these guys, right? They humiliated us. But taunting them? The-the response is going to be... Biblical." Sophie said.

"That's what I'm counting on." Nate said walking out of the room and we all sat down to plan the heist. When Nate walked back in Sophie gave him a piece of paper.

"Hey, I think the roof's the way in, but it looks like they've rigged alarm sensors to the skylights." She told him.

"I can get around those." Parker told us.

"Really? And end up on one of the new 20 cameras they got down there from our last little trip to the basement?" I asked her.

"That was fun." Parker said smiling.

"Yeah. Could we talk about that?" Hardison asked her.

"Talk about what?" Parker asked him.

"You know, none of this takes into account any new security measures that sterling might have added since Nate made his little play date." Sophie told us.

"Where's the air coming from? The statues are in a sealed case, kept at a constant humidity and temperature. Air moves in and out. How?" Nate asked us.

"All right, from what I saw, the airflow to the museum passes through the base of the display, right?" Sophie asked.

"Hollow base underneath the statues, so what's underneath the base?" Nate asked us.

"The restoration room. It's like a maze of rooms down there. Airflow control, heating, storage." Hardison said.

"How'd we miss that?" I asked.

"Grifter, hitter, hacker, thief. You were all trying to solve your version of the crime instead of just trying to solve the crime. There was a reason we worked together." Nate told us.

"Yeah..." I said looking at Sophiem "was."

"Okay, we need access to that restoration room. We need somebody on the inside." Nate told us.

"We can't run a con. They know our faces." I told him.

"What about Maggie?" Parker asked us.

"Exactly. I mean, most of the museum people aren't gonna recognize us, But Maggie. She works down there." Sophie said.

"No, what about Maggie? She's inside." Parker repeated.

"You just said that. She just said –" I told her.

"No, wait. No, hold - Listen. Listen, I get - I get it. Just have Eliot call her as Dr. Sinclair. We won't play her. He'll just feel her out." Hardison suggested.

"Have Eliot... feel out my wife?" Nate asked.

"Feel out." I told him making a hand motion.

"Ex, Nate. Ex-Wife." Sophie told Nate.

"Okay, look, you always have a plan "b," right? So, fine. Without Maggie, what's the plan "b"?" Parker asked him.

"We'll need more than just Maggie. We're going to need a Jack." I told them and they gave me a look.

"Who's Jack?" Sophie asked me and I smirked at them.

* * *

"Jack's" POV

I was walking through a museum where the two Davids were going to be presented when I heard one of my phones ring and I smiled.

"Why Mr. Spencer. I haven't heard from you in a long time." I said looking at a beautiful painting. I turned as I heard something banging in another portion of the museum.

"Hey. I need your help with something." he told me.

"Oh?" I asked him. I left the museum quickly without being noticed by anyone and walked to my car.

"Yeah. I got a job but the mark knows my face as well as my teams faces. We need you." he told me.

"You needed a Jack so you called me, I feel honored." I told him.

"Will you help us?" he asked me.

"Where should I meet you?" I asked him. He gave me the address.

"Thanks for this." he said and I smiled into the phone.

"No problem Eliot." I said before inserting the address into my phone and using the GPS to find the house.

* * *

When I came to the address I almost didn't believe what I was seeing. I walked up to the house and walked in to see Eliot standing in the foyer with a suit on and his hair pulled back.

"If I knew you were going to get dressed up then I would have dressed nicer." I told him smiling.

"Hey, Car, how are you doing?" he asked me giving me a hug.

"You know same old, same old." I told him following him into the dining room. When I walked in I saw two women and two men all gathered talking before turning and facing us, shock on their faces.

"This is Caroline. Caroline this is Sophie Devereaux, Parker, Alec Hardison, and Nathan Ford." Eliot introduced us.

"Hello. Nice to meet you." I said nodding my head to them.

"Is there a last name, Caroline?" Nathan asked me and I smiled.

"Yes there is." I told him.

"What is it?" He asked me and my smile grew slightly.

"Don't worry, you'll find out eventually." I told him.

"Either way, we have to go." Eliot said and I raised my eyebrow at him.

"And where are we going?" I asked him.

"We aren't going anywhere, you are staying here while we leave." Nathan told me.

"Nathan, you needed my help or Eliot wouldn't have called me. The way I work is if I'm working with a crew I know nothing about, then I like to see everything. I know how Eliot works alone, now I need to see how the rest of your crew works." I told him. He thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.

"Alright."

* * *

"There you are." The waitress at the coffee shop said to Eliot and a blonde woman, who'd I'd been told was Nathan's ex-wife, Maggie.

"All right." Eliot said taking the drink. They had put a button cam on him so we could hear and see and hear everything that was happening on the date.

"And for you." the waitress said putting coffee down in front of Maggie.

"Thank you." Maggie said smiling at her.

"You're welcome. Enjoy." The waitress said walking away from them.

"You come here a lot?" Eliot asked her.

"No. I just wanted to see you." Maggie told him.

"That's a date." Sophie said watching them.

"Did we really need to put a button cam on Eliot?" Parker asked Nathan.

"Safety issue." Nathan said and I smiled at the screen.

"Mm-hmm." Hardison said not believing him, none of us did.

"We're not gonna talk about art all afternoon, are we?" Maggie asked Eliot.

"No." Eliot told her.

"Good. It's all my ex-Husband ever wanted to talk about." Maggie told him as the waitress handed each of them a menu. "And that was so tedious." We all looked at Nathan for a moment. Nathan looks uncomfortably at us, then back to the screen. "Listen..." Maggie said putting her hand over Eliot's. "I want to thank you. I haven't dated a lot since my marriage broke up."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Eliot told her.

"No, don't be. He was obsessive, perfectionist, controlling." Maggie said listing off the bad qualities of Nathan Ford.

"Organized! She used to say I was organized. And punctual." Nathan said trying to redeem himself.

"Mm-hmm." Hardison said not believing him.

"He must have had some good qualities." Eliot told her.

"No, not even in bed." Maggie told him.

"Ooh!" Parker said as I tried not to choke on my drink.

"Every night was prom night." Maggie told Eliot. "You know what I mean? But worst of all, he completely forgot that I gave him that same button camera for Christmas three years ago." I dropped my head into my hands as suddenly, the doors to the van opened.

"I can explain." Nathan told her.

* * *

Parker, Eliot, Hardison, Sophie and I were sitting on the stairs as Maggie and Nathan stood in the dining room, arguing.

"Did it occur to you that I might be…" We heard Maggie say.

"I feel used." Eliot told us.

"Don't worry, El. That feeling will go away." I told him.

"His name's not El, it's Eliot. Right?" Parker asked me.

"It's a nickname Parker, one that I gave him a long time ago." I told her before Maggie walked through the foyer outside with Nathan behind her.

"It's going great." he told us.

"We can tell." Sophie told him as he followed his ex-wife.

* * *

"So we replace the rebar, reinforce the concrete, with any luck, they'll never know what hit 'em. And that, that's the plan." Nathan told us.

"You actually expect this to work?" Maggie asked him.

"Um…" Nathan said looking at everyone.

"No, no, you're supposed to say, "wow. That's just crazy enough to work."" Hardison told her.

"Incredibly, chance does seem to bend itself to his bizarre machinations." Sophie told her.

"That's his superpower." Parker whispered to her before smelling her.

"Okay, um...now, do you have what we need?" Nathan asked her.

"I have to check museum inventory." Maggie told him.

"Oh. Easy." Nathan said looking to Hardison who typed on a laptop, then showed the monitor to Maggie.

"This is confidential." Maggie said taking the laptop from him. "You're not reading my e-Mails, are you?" she asked jokingly.

"No. No." Hardison told her then nodded to Nathan while she wasn't looking.

"He won't-here." Maggie said turning her laptop to Nathan. "This is the only thing big enough for what you need."

"Great. Okay. Now, how soon can you get that in the restoration room?" Nathan asked her.

" That's not my department. You have to convince the museum director, Darien Lloyd, to pull it from the display." she said handing Hardison the laptop.

"Okay." Nathan said turning back to his plans.

"Nate?" Maggie called to him.

"Hmm?" he turned to her.

"You just can't make somebody do what you want them to do." Maggie told him and we all just stared at her.

"Whoa." Eliot said and Sophie laughed at him. "Wha-"

"That's what we get payed to do. It's our job." I told her.

"You're adorable." Parker said petting her hair. I glanced at Eliot who just nodded at me.

* * *

"Maggie, it won't fall out. Just pretend it's not there." Nathan said over the ear pieces.

"Yeah, just forget my ex-Husband's voice in my head, telling me what he thinks I should do." Maggie told him and I smiled. "I'm in therapy to solve this problem."

"Uh, yeah, sorry. Um, okay, Parker's on her approach, so I want you -" Nathan started saying.

"So nobody else finds it annoying when you nag them in the middle of a con?" I asked him from the Egyptian Room.

"Why don't I run this one, Nate?" Sophie asked him.

"Yeah." Nathan said and I smiled. "I don't nag. You know, I just have, you know, a clear big-picture viewpoint."

"Actually, you know what? We did kind of liked the way Sophie ran the last one." Hardison said.

"Yeah. Yeah. Up until the point where she got us caught, but other than that it was great." Eliot told him.

"Yeah, all right. Fine, fine. You're in therapy? Um... How come you didn't -" Nate started asking her and I rolled my eyes.

"Mmm. None of that. No. No. Hey, I will cut you off." Hardison told him.

"What did Parker switch his allergy medication with?" Maggie asked us.

"Pollen, ragweed mostly." Sophie told her.

"And dextroamphetamines." I finished.

"Ooh!" Maggie said and I could imagine her face. I sat waiting for my part of the con as I listened to Parker bumping into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." she said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." the man, Lloyd, said to her.

"Did I step on your glasses?" Parker asked him.

"No, no, no, it's okay." he told her.

"Okay, good." Parker told him.

"Okay, why don't you run up to him? Being just a little bit out of breath, it changes the speech rhythms makes it harder to detect a lie." Sophie told Maggie

"Lloyd!" Maggie called out, slightly breathless, following Sophie instructions.

"See? Like that right there. It's informative." Hardison said talking to Nathan.

"You learn and you con." Eliot finished for him.

"You guys really are good friends, aren't you?" I asked them and their was silence.

"You forgot this in my office." Maggie said.

"I-when was that?" Lloyd asked her.

"Five minutes ago. I showed the designs for the two Davids exhibit. You signed off on the benches. You okay?" Maggie asked him.

"Good. Now steer him towards me. Don't tell him." I told her. "Just give him half an idea. Let him complete it."

"I'll bring you the rest of the plans after your thing in the Egyptian Room." Maggie said.

"I have a thing in the Egyptian room?" Lloyd asked her but his voice was further away so she must have walked away from him.

* * *

I watched as Lloyd entered the room I was waiting in, coughing. He put his laptop on the stage and I chose that moment to walk up to him.

"Ahlan Biki, Director Lloyd. Dr. Rahman of the Cairo Museum. I was, I was so worried that I had the wrong day." I said in an Arabic accent shacking his hand.

"Oh, no, no. I-I don't have an appointment." He said checking his computer, coughing again, to see a message saying meeting today flashing at him. "Oh, yes, I do." he said turning back to me.

"Oh, dear, that, um, no, that doesn't sound good at all." I said motioning to my throat and chest.

"I've had it for weeks." he told me and I nodded my head to him with a slight smile.

"Well, I've confirmed the markings, and I concur, definitely fourth dynasty." I said looking from him to the sarcophagus on the stage. "The sarcophagus of Pharaoh Menkaure." Lloyd put his glasses on and turned to the sarcophagus.

"Everything's blurry." Lloyd said.

"I'm so relieved to finally meet someone who's got the good sense to ignore all that silly, silly curse business." I said pretending that I hadn't heard him.

"Say what?" he asked turning to me.

"Well, I'll certify the authenticity as you requested. It was very nice to meet you." I said shaking his hand before he coughed on it. "Thank you. Um..." I wiped my hand on my dress before smiling at him again. "So, oh, goodbye, then. And, well, I-I recommend y-you see a doctor about that cough. It does seem to be going to your chest." I told him before turning away.

"It's just allergies." Lloyd told me as I walked away from him.

"Okay, he's just checked all the places the sarcophagus was stored before it hit the museum." Hardison told us.

"Okay. What's he found?" Nathan asked him.

"Oh. Well, looky here. Dr. Ernst Volk, University of Berlin, dead. Dr. Schliemann, London museum, dead. Oh. Oh, and also the three guys that actually discovered the tomb. Eliot, what does that say?" Hardison asked him.

"It says "dead."" Eliot said.

"D-E-D, dead, baby." Hardison said.

"D-E-A-D." Nathan and Eliot spelled for him.

"I-I know how to- I was throwing a little style on it, Just a little bit, a little style. I know how to spell "dead," damn it. I can steal a bank, I can spell "dead."" Hardison said getting angry at him.

"Wrap it up now, Maggie. You're doing great." I told her walking out of the room finally.

"There you are. Can you just sign these?" Maggie asked Lloyd.

"Sure. Hey, uh, Maggie, you don't believe in curses, do you? You know, mummy's curses, unexplained deaths around sarcophaguses?" Lloyd asked laughing nervously.

"Don't be silly. Everyone knows it's a fungus." Maggie told him seriously.

"What?" Lloyd asked her.

"Aspergillus flavus, found on Egyptian artifacts. Gets in the eyes and nose, infection spreads, and the next thing you know, another death from the curse." Maggie told him.

"So, uh, what are the symptoms?" Lloyd asked her and I smiled as I walked.

"Congestion, memory loss, blurry vision." Maggie told him before I could hear her snapping her book shut and walking away from him.

"What are you doing here?" I turned to see my head and quickly removed the ear piece and smiling.

"Hey daddy." I said hugging him." How are you doing?" I asked him and we continued walking around.

"I'm doing okay. What are you doing here?" he asked me again.

"I'm just enjoying the museum." I told him.

"You best be getting home." he said and I nodded to him.

"Sure, I have some errands to run first then I'll go. Dinner at the same time?" I asked him.

"Yes." he kissed my cheek and I left the museum and went to the Mansion.

* * *

When I got there I saw Eliot working on some equipment and I offered to help him. So we sat down together and worked on it talking lightly about old times.

"It's a good idea. I just, um" I turned to see Sophie and Nathan walking down the stairs. I turned back to our work not wanting to bug them. "just-just give me a moment."

"You need something?" Eliot asked her when she stood next to us.

"I was just trying to make myself useful." She told him.

"Yeah, well, last time you tried that, we had to blow up the office." Eliot told her.

"That's not fair." she said.

"I was just getting used to it." Eliot told her and I put my hand on his leg. He glanced at me and smiled before covering my hand with his own.

"What? Having an office?" Sophie asked him and he looked up at her.

"Being part of a team." he said.

"Look, I didn't mean, you know, it wasn't supposed to go down like that." Sophie said trying to explain their last job to him. I looked up as Parker tossed a bag on the floor near us.

"What's going on?" She asked us.

"Sophie here was just trying to apologize." I told her.

"No, I wasn't." Sophie insisted.

"She tried that with me earlier. She kind of sucks at it." Parker told him.

"A little bit." Eliot said.

"Oh, did she give you the speech about how we're thieves and about how this is what thieves do and if we were in her shoes, we'd have done the same thing?" Hardison asked him.

"No, I think she was just getting to that part." Eliot said and everyone was silent for a moment before he suddenly got up and put the part down on the ground with a loud clang. "You apologized to him first, huh? Why am I last?" he asked her.

"I wasn't apologizing. I..." she said trying to explain herself.

"I think that's the problem." I told her standing also.

"I just wanted to see if w-we… we were all okay with each other." Sophie said looking at all of them.

"Okay. There it is." Eliot said.

"I forgive you." Parker told her.

"Apology accepted." Hardison said what they were thinking.

"Yeah." Eliot said and he and Parker went to help Hardison with a painting.

"No, I wasn't— unh-unh, you, I didn't..." Sophie said as Hardison was putting up a painting on the mantle that looked a lot like Nathan. "Oh, no, no. Just, uh, edge it left a little bit. Parker and Hardison moved the painting to the center. "Yeah." Sophie said smiling at it.

* * *

I stood in the crowd in front of Ian Blackpoole and the display of two Davids, and photographers took pictures as he made a speech.

"And now, for the first time in 400 years, the two Davids are reunited. I would like to express my gratitude to the museum staff and, of course, our fund-raisers and all of you for the opportunity of presenting Michelangelo's two Davids." he said and everyone applauded. I watched as the head of security walked away and I smiled. I joined everyone, avoiding Lloyd, in viewing the artwork and the statues. I turned to see Nathan standing in front of the display case holding the two Davids, eating popcorn, and I smiled before going back to viewing the artwork. Suddenly the case holding the Davids fills with smoke.

"Why is it doing that?" a woman asked. I turned to see Nathan hitting a button on his phone. I looked at my phone as it beeped to see it connecting. When it connected and displayed a series of numbers. When the numbers cleared it showed a countdown from five minutes and I smiled. I saw Ian push his way into the gallery towards the Davids.

"I can't see them! Sterling, get this thing open!" Ian commanded.

"You two, open this up." he said ordering two guards to do the job.

"We can't. Homeland security." Lloyd told him.

"What?" he asked the older man.

"An unnamed gas has been released in a public space. We have to evacuate the building." Lloyd said.

"Evacuate?" Ian asked him.

"It's federal protocol." Lloyd told him.

"We're not gonna evacuate." Ian told him.

"It's federal protocol for a chemical attack!" Lloyd said louder, causing some people to panic. I quickly left the room and went up stairs. When I saw everyone leave I walked back downstairs and waited for Nathan with the others. Doors and gates slid down, sealing the gallery off from the rest of the building.

"Let's go to work." Nathan said and we separated, getting our jobs done. When we were done, I hid until the doors were opened again and joined the crowd when they all came in.

"Two Davids." Ian laughed. "Thank god."

"Got you, Nate." his VP said.

"Yes. That was the whole point." Nathan told him.

"Power's back up in about 15 seconds." Geary told them.

"What do you mean?" he asked Nathan.

"You know, all that chasing me around. "Don't let Nate Ford near the two Davids." "How is Nate Ford gonna get the two Davids?" I wasn't the mastermind on this one, Sterling. I'm the bait. Three, two, one." Nathan counted down and the gates opened and the lights turned on revealing that all the paintings had been stolen from the walls. Everyone looked around, stunned.

"No! T-the room was locked!" Ian said freaking out.

"Sometimes the classics really are the best." Nathan told him.

"They were masterpieces! They're worth -" Lloyd said looking around.

"$150 million. The Vermeer, Caravaggio, two van Eyck's. At least…." Maggie said dropping off.

"We need to call the police." Lloyd said dialing a phone.

"Yes, he's right. We really should call the police." Nathan told him.

"No, not the police." Ian told them.

"What do you mean?" Lloyd asked him.

"No, I'm responsible! All the paintings in this room, they were my responsibility. No, they were all loaned to me..." Ian said breaking off and looking at Nathan.

"Oh, well done." the younger man said smirking at Nathan.

"Every single masterpiece in this room is insured by IYS. That's a $150 million payout. Now, what do you think your board of directors are gonna do when they realize that you've lost the company $150 million?" Nathan asked them. Ian grabbed a fun from one of the guards and pointed it at Nathan.

"Where are they?" Mr. Blackpoole asked him.

"Clear the room. Clear the room!" Sterling told us.

"I'm not leaving." I told him as everyone cleared out.

"Are you here to kill me, Ian?" Nathan asked him. Ian cocked the gun and stared at him. "Hmm. Here's how it's gonna go, Sterling."

"I'm all ears." His former coworker said.

"No, you talk to me, not to him. You talk to me." Ian said looking between the men.

"Every single painting will be returned to IYS the moment Ian Blackpoole is stripped of his position and all his assets in the company. Also, his policy of denying every claim, that ends." Nathan ordered.

"Extortion." he said.

"I prefer to call it "oversight."" Nathan told him. He picked up a recorder from the Davids display case and hit a button.

"Last time I saw you, you were selling me something." Ian said on the recording.

"I got out of sales." Nathan said.

"So, what are you in now?" Ian asked him.

"Theft. Yeah, I'm going to rob the two Davids gallery on opening day. Well, aren't you gonna call the police?" Nathan asked Ian.

"Of course not." Ian told him and Nathan turned off the recording and tossed it to his old friend.

"When the owners of these paintings realize that Ian knew there was gonna be a theft, but didn't call the police, well, they're gonna sue the hell out of him, aren't they?" Nathan asked him.

"But if the company, in good faith, returns their paintings?" he asked.

"They might not fire you if you give them Blackpoole." Nathan said and the smaller man laughed before Ian turned the gun on him and I held myself back from helping him.

"No. Sterling, you work for me." Ian said. "IYS is my company."

"Can't let personal feelings affect policy. You have a responsibility to shareholders. No exceptions." Nathan said taking the gun away from Ian and stepped closer to him. "I have lost my only son. Do you really think you scare me? Huh?" Nathan asked him and Ian backed away.

"Maggie!" Ian called out for her help. "Well, you understand –" Maggie suddenly punched Ian in the face and he fell to the floor.

"Go Maggie." I said and they all looked at me.

"Screw therapy. That felt really good." Maggie said walking away.

"Of course, you know your entire plan depended on me being a self-serving, utter bastard." the man next to me told Nathan.

"Hmm. Yeah, that's a stretch." Nathan said handing the gun to him and headed for the door.

"I'll call you when it's done." he called to him.

"You do that." Nathan said. I turned to the man next to me and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll see you at home daddy." I said before walking away.

* * *

A few days later we all stood in a circle.

"Thank you, all of you. You surprised me." Nathan told us.

"We had a good run." Eliot told them.

"It's a good time to move on." Hardison said.

"I'm going somewhere... else." Parker said looking at Hardison.

"A fresh start." Sophie said looking at Nathan.

"It's been fun." I told them. "You guys ever hook up again, let me know."

"We made a difference. Remember that." Nathan told us.

"Where you going?" Hardison asked Parker.

"Let's see how hard you look." Parker told him. We all turned and separated to different planes, each going a different locations. I stopped and heard them stop also.


End file.
